


Filter

by thawrecka



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: F/M, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-07-27
Updated: 2003-07-27
Packaged: 2017-11-20 04:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/581245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thawrecka/pseuds/thawrecka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Connor never had a childhood so Fred has decided to give him some of hers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Filter

Fred once electrocuted herself by accident. She was 12. It was night time. Her father had removed the old light bulb from her lamp and she'd forgotten. She turned it on, confused when no light went on. Out of a strange need to investigate, she reached in to where the bulb was supposed to be and got zapped.

It only lasted a fraction of a second before she recoiled. She felt shaken and fragile, but very much alive. Quivering and gasping for air, she turned off the switch and made her way to bed in the dark. Her pulse was racing as she settled under the covers. At the time she thought she had never been more frightened or exhilarated.

She wonders, now, if Connor felt anything like that when she zapped him with the taser. From the way he reacted, she thinks maybe he did.

 

It was over, mostly. They were celebrating, a little. Connor was restless and his pacing was starting to drive Lorne crazy.

"Fred, sweetie, would you object if I cut off the boy's legs?" he asked.

Connor stopped his pacing and scowled, for a moment, before resuming.

"I think maybe he needs to get out of the hotel before he wears a hole in the floor," Fred said.

"Take him out, then, sweet heart," Lorne said. "Take him to the movies or wherever it is people his age go. And quickly, because he's giving me a headache."

Fred rushed to her feet, grabbed a jacket and said, "Connor, we're going to a movie."

It took some convincing but she managed to get Connor to come along. Lorne smiled at her gratefully as they left.

Fred decided, as it was a lovely day and they were both young and fit, that they should walk to the cinema.

"Anyway, if I get tired you're strong enough to carry me," she joked. He didn't seem very amused.

It was a good thing the cinema wasn't far.

When they got to the point they had to cross the road Connor walked a little bit ahead of her.

When she was 15 Fred walked in front of a moving car. She didn't mean to. She hadn't see it coming until she was right in it's path. She'd felt paralysed with fear, barely able to move. Luckily the driver had braked just in time.

She'd felt terrified and foolish, but utterly amazing all the same.

A car swerved and Connor moved just in time to avoid a nasty accident. He stopped where he stood and breathed harshly. Fred rushed over to him and put a hand to his face. His eyes seemed terribly wide.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He nodded. He looked kind of excited. She's pretty sure she knows how he felt.

The driver got away before they could yell at him. When they resumed walking Fred grabbed Connor's hand and led him along.

 

The cinema was reasonably full when they got there. There were several families and young couples, as well as teenagers dressed in their finest. Connor seemed kind of freaked out by the crowd.

They decided to go see a movie about pretty, angsty types with superpowers. Fred had $30 in her pocket so she bought their tickets and a tub of popcorn.

They sat somewhere near the middle.

When he watched the movie Connor didn't fidget, totally absorbed in the events on screen. He gasped, laughed and smiled in all the right places, and occasionally told the characters to run. Fred found it charming, resolving to take him to more movies.

Afterwards Connor enthusiastically endorsed the movie.

"And he just carved that guy up! And the thing with the fire..." Connor trailed off, smiling at his feet.

Fred nodded. "It was cool."

Connor looked up at her and they shared a smile as they strolled into the early night. They talked about the movie the rest of the way home.

 

Connor never had a childhood so Fred has decided to give him some of hers.

She's glad there's so many people at the hotel all the time, because it meant she was able to slip out unnoticed. It's harder to get than she thought it would be. She started by calling a friend from high school, which was entirely useless. She made a few enquiries in unpleasant places. Eventually she found a muddle-headed professor she remembers (one who never sent her to a hell dimension) who could help.

She felt weird and conspicuous carrying it back to the hotel.

 

She found Connor in a hallway fighting an invisible opponent with a long, sharp knife. He stopped and blushed when he saw her watching.

"I've got something you might find interesting," she said.

His eyes lit up with curiosity. "What is it?"

"Come with me and I'll show you," she said, enigmatic.

He followed, a trifle impatient, as she walked to her room. She got the stuff out -- the rolling papers, the plastic bag with the pot and her lighter from a jacket pocket -- and sat on the floor, motioning for him to do the same. He sat next to her, looking on her actions curiously.

"What is that?" he asked, nodding towards the bag.

"That is marijuana," she said, then licked the edge of the paper.

"What do you do with it?"

Fred finished rolling the joint promptly. "You smoke it."

She lit it with practised ease, and smoked. Instantly her head felt lighter, warmer and her body looser. She felt... She felt as if she were lying on a roof in the summer sun.

She offered it to Connor. "Try it."

He took it apprehensively and brought it to his lips, inhaling too much, too fast. He choked on it, and coughed out the smoke. Fred patted him on the back, remembering the way it burned her first time.

"Why do people smoke this stuff?" he asked, when he stopped spluttering.

Fred took a hit and replied, "It gets better. Here, try it again, only not so much and try to hold the smoke in."

Cautiously, Connor took back the joint and tried to do as Fred said. He concentrated very hard on getting it right.

His eyes looked as if they would pop out of his head as he exhaled and said, "That was different."

He took another puff and passed it back. Fred quietly smoked as Connor lay back on the carpet and breathed. She uncrossed her legs and twisted her skinny limbs until she was facing him. She leaned forward, her hair a dark sheet around their faces, and let him finish it off.

She went through the process of lighting another.

When she was 17 Fred had been smoking with a friend. She'd laughed, breathlessly, and his eyes had been big and wide. She'd felt full and light like a balloon, when he leant over and kissed her.

She wonders if Connor felt anything like that as she leaned down and he leaned up and their mouths met in the middle. The hand with the joint was on the floor to the left of his head as she blew the smoke into his mouth. Their tongues slid against each other.

They moved apart, and she smiled as he took the joint from her fingers.


End file.
